Northwestern’s Women’s Auxiliary is asking students to participate in its Phone Raiser by donating old cell phones and ink cartridges. Members of the Auxiliary will turn in the donated phones and cartridges to a distribution center and then receive money for each of the donated items.
Marilyn Van Engelenhoven, head of the Women’s Auxiliary, said the Auxiliary is “a group that gives back to the students through scholarships and campus projects.” All the money received through the Phone Raiser will go back to the students.
Van Engelenhoven said the members of the Auxilary recently asked themselves, “What can we do that would benefit the students?” Their answer to this question came in the form of a Phone Raiser.
“We look in our drawers and see all these old phones,” Van Engelenhoven said. “It’s an easy way for people to give a donation.”
Although the amount of money received for each donated phone varies according to the brand, Van Engelenhoven said that the Auxiliary could receive as much as $15 for one cell phone.
Drop boxes for the cell phones and ink cartridges are located outside of NW’s mail room in the RSC and in DeKoffiehoek & Bistro. The Auxiliary will accept donations until the end of the school year. In the meantime, Van Engelenhoven hopes to place more drop boxes in churches from the surrounding area, South Dakota and Minnesota.
“It’s a project that even students can take hold of,” Van Engelenhoven said. “They can go back to their home churches and put a box out.”
Students that are interested in helping out by putting drop boxes in their own churches can contact Van Engelenhoven at 712-395-0396.